The dollar traded lower yesterday, and although EU and US indices rose, the Asian ones closed in negative territory today. It seems that investors may have turned cautious again as the outcome from the Trump-Xi meeting is far from suggesting that the world’s two largest economies have bridged their differences. The pound was the main loser among the G10s perhaps due to the disappointment in the UK construction PMI for June, as well as comments by BoE Governor Mark Carney. As for today, the Riksbank is scheduled to decide on monetary policy.
RISK APPETITE SOFTENS, POUND SLIDES AS CARNEY SOUNDS CAUTIOUS
The dollar traded lower against most of the other G10 currencies on Tuesday and during the Asian morning Wednesday. It gained only against GBP, while it was found virtually unchanged versus EUR and NZD. The main winner was JPY, with AUD taking the second place, but well behind.
The weakening of the dollar and the strengthening of the safe-haven yen suggest that optimism surrounding the outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting has faded somewhat. Although major EU and US stock indices ended their sessions in the green, the gains were modest compared to Monday. The exceptions were Italy’s FTSE MIB, which accelerated perhaps to catch up after rising only 0.09% on Monday...